Are You Listening?

Two weeks ago, a mile from where I grew up, an 85-year-old man was brutally murdered in his home. Rumor has it he was beaten and strangled; the official cause of death has yet to be announced. Signs are the bedroom was ransacked in what appears to be a burglary/murder. Time will tell.

A few years ago I asked two paramedics on a south suburban Chicago fire department to monitor the radios and keep track of each time the police in their city were called out on a violent Code 3 (lights and sirens, burglary in progress, etcâ€¦), as well as how many times the fire department was called out to an actual fire. The ratio ended up being 60 to 1. For every one time the engines rolled to a real fire, police responded to 60 violent events (murders, stabbings, aggravated assaults, armed robberies, etcâ€¦) Not even close to a scientific study, but interesting nonetheless.

We all have smoke detectors and fire extinguishers in our homes, and we pay people to polish big red trucks all day. In fact, we even legislate fire alarms and fire suppression systems into our building codes. We do this because the consequences of not having those things when we need them are unacceptable. Yet, when compared to the potential of violent attack, fire is a non-issue.

In my old neighborhood, I know of 40+ homes that have been broken into, 3 murders, and countless assault and batteries. And itâ€™s one of those â€œnice places to live.â€ I can only remember one real house fire.

I suggest (to the suggestible student) that they carry their gun at all times – even at home. We all have to sleep, but every waking moment our pistols should be at hand. I donâ€™t say that to impress fear, I say it to impress priorities. You are the first responder to your attack – you get no â€œwait a minuteâ€ or â€œtime outâ€ or â€œdo over.â€ When it happens, ready or not, youâ€™re on!

The world is telling us something, and people are dying illustrating the lesson – ignore it at your own peril.

About Frank Sharpe

Frank Sharpe has been a Firearms Instructor for 15-years, and is the owner and Lead Instructor of Fortress Defense Consultants. He spends his time teaching people how to shoot people, and as a student of that Art. Frank may be contacted directly at frank@fortressdefense.com.

…well, I don’t live in Chicago, but if everyone there had taken your advice we wouldn’t have the McDonald verdict, or CCW in IL. There are some who take violations of their rights seriously, and are willing to fight for them. They’re heroes – and all of us reap the benefits of their hard work.

What happens in CA, NY, NJ, IL, etc., effects us all. If you expect to retain your rights, then the days of “running away” are over. Fight where you live, and support those who have a higher mountain to climb.

So, if I’m understanding this, the way to win is to abandon millions of people who may be on the fence with the issue and allow bad precedent to be set in court while the rest of us pool together in the same “gun friendly” state, which will eventually be subject to the same bad case law the Federal courts decide, all in the hopes that the battle will come to us?

I suggest an instant and overwhelming counter attack on the enemies home ground. Which is working just fine in IL, by the way.

Don’t wait for orders from headquarters, ride to the sound of the guns.

That sounds really cool. I’m not sure how it translates into an actionable political strategy, though.

Obviously, the way to win is to win elections. The courts are not going to protect us.

Our enemies are attacking us with federal legislation, so there aren’t any gun friendly safe havens where we can all go to relax and hope that everything turns out ok. But since the USA is a republic and not a democracy, the battles in this war are being fought on a state by state basis. To win nationally we would be wise to mass our forces in the critical swing states.

When Magpul stood up to the gun grabbers in CO by voting with their feet everyone applauded and rightfully so. More people should follow their example.

You can certainly suggest whatever you think is correct, and do what whatever you think is correct. No problem.

The fact is, if Otis McDonald has listened to your advice there would still be a handgun ban and registration scheme in Chicago. If Mary Shepard had listened to your advice, 75,000 people would not have CCW permits in IL. And that will be well over 100,000 by end of summer.

As all those people carry, and as the residents of the state see that the sky doesn’t fall because of it, it will effect the attitude of the electorate and make gun control less popular, Thus, making it a low priority of those running for, and holding, office.

You can encourage the pro-gun people of IL to move, but don’t be surprised when they don’t listen. They’ve made HUGE strides in just 5-years, and NONE of it would have happened if they’d fled. Sure, it all still needs lots of work, but who, exactly, is going to do that work if we all pack up and leave?

That being said, there are plenty of other perfectly good reasons not to live in IL – mostly monetary. And I would never fault someone who vacates for that.

I woke up one morning to someone knocking on the door. I thought it was ups leaving a package and rolled back over. Soon after I heard something that made me get up and look. I looked out the peephole to see a young guy with a crowbar trying to pop my door open. He heard me yell and ran off. This was 8am on a weekday.

My family and I live on a small farm in rural Missouri. We are approximately 12 miles from a sizable town, the last place where you would expect crime or violence. But I have had at least 4 incidents, on this property. Someone has broken into my barn twice, a violent Meth-head threatening my family, and some idiot breaking into my son’s car. The response time for the local Sheriffs office is as long as 45 minutes. For this reason I carry at all times. My neighbors by chance are largely military veterans, so we have been trained to defend ourselves. So the vast majority of us choose to exercise Our Second Amendment Right. Most of us also have a concealed carry license. We choose not to be a victim of violent crime.

I was pleased to see your blog on gun carry. I have a very small pistol and have carried it for over 30 years….no one expect an older woman to have one in her pocket.

Many years ago, as a nurse, I went into private homes to care for patients, many in very low income/gang areas, with drug deals on the street corners. My gun was always in my pocket. Today I would never even drive down the same street….even the drug dealers are meaner today.
And, yes, if my boss knew I had a gun, I would have been fire……..better fired than robbed and killed.